The Puracé National Natural Park () is a

national park A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...

located in the Andean region of Colombia, southeast of the city of

Popayán Popayán () is the capital of the Colombian department of Cauca. It is located in the Pubenza Valley in southwestern Colombia between the Western Mountain Range and Central Mountain Range. The municipality has a population of 318,059, an a ...

in the Cordillera Central range. Its main feature is the active

stratovolcano A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a typically conical volcano built up by many alternating layers (strata) of hardened lava and tephra. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile with ...

Puracé, one of Colombia's most active volcanoes. Four of the country's most important rivers originate within the area:

Magdalena River The Magdalena River (, ; less commonly ) is the main river of Colombia, flowing northward about through the western half of the country. It takes its name from the biblical figure Mary Magdalene. It is navigable through much of its lower reaches, ...

Cauca River The Cauca River () is a river in Colombia that lies between the Occidental and Central cordilleras. From its headwaters in southwestern Colombia near the city of Popayán, it joins the Magdalena River near Magangué in Bolívar Department, an ...

, Japurá River and Patía River.

General

It was established in 1961 as the first national park in the

Cauca Department Cauca Department (, ) is a department of Southwestern Colombia. Located in the southwestern part of the country, facing the Pacific Ocean to the west, the Valle del Cauca Department to the north, Tolima Department to the northeast, Huila De ...

. During the 1990s, the FARC guerrilla used the park as a base camp, but has since waned as a result of the 2002 military campaign against the movement enacted by

President of Colombia The president of Colombia (President of the Republic) is the head of state and head of government of Colombia. The president heads the executive branch of the Government of Colombia, national government and is the commander-in-chief of the Mil ...

Álvaro Uribe Álvaro Uribe Vélez (born 4 July 1952) is a Colombian politician who served as the 31st President of Colombia from 7 August 2002 to 7 August 2010. Uribe started his political career in his home department of Antioquia Department, Antioquia. H ...

. The only active

volcano A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most oft ...

in the area is Puracé at

above mean sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...

. At the foot of this volcano is the Paletará valley. In addition, there are two higher volcanoes, Azúcar at and Coconuco at , and four more with an elevation between and . The way to get to the park is through Popayán, capital of the Department of Cauca, which can be reached by the

Pan-American highway The Pan-American Highway is a vast network of roads that stretches about 30,000 kilometers (about 19,000 miles) from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, in the northernmost part of North America to Ushuaia, Argentina, at the southern tip of South America. I ...

that connects the country from north to south. Then take the road to the town of Puracé, located at the foot of the volcano. It is 44 km long and takes about an hour. The road is in good condition. From Puracé you continue to a point called "El Crucero", and then - 1 km further - to the recreational area of Pilimbalá, in the northern sector of the volcano. Or the park can also be reached from the old Colombian police base located at 4000 meters above sea level which can be accessed by vehicle after passing through the Puracé's sulphur mines. Starting from Pilimabalá at a medium pace and with good weather, it can take 3 ½ h to ascend to the crater. If the ascent is made via the military base, the journey is much shorter and may take around 1 ½ to 2 h.

Climate

The highest daytime temperatures are between , and the coldest nighttime temperatures below freezing. The average yearly rainfall is and tend to decrease as elevation increases. Frost occurs frequently above and almost daily above .

Flora and fauna

Over 200

orchids Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan plants that are found in almost every habitat on Earth ...

and nationally threatened species such as the Colombian Pine, Andean Oak, Wax palm tree are found in the park. It is home to over 160 species of birds, of which

hummingbird Hummingbirds are birds native to the Americas and comprise the Family (biology), biological family Trochilidae. With approximately 366 species and 113 genus, genera, they occur from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, but most species are found in Cen ...

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family (biology), family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and goose, geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfam ...

birds of prey Birds of prey or predatory birds, also known as (although not the same as) raptors, are hypercarnivorous bird species that actively predation, hunt and feed on other vertebrates (mainly mammals, reptiles and smaller birds). In addition to speed ...

are the most dominating. Several mammals are found in the park:

spectacled bear The spectacled bear (''Tremarctos ornatus''), also known as the South American bear, Andean bear, Andean short-faced bear or mountain bear and locally as jukumari ( Aymara and Quechua), ukumari ( Quechua) or ukuku, is a species of bear native to ...

mountain tapir The mountain tapir, also known as the Andean tapir or woolly tapir (''Tapirus pinchaque''), is the smallest of the four widely recognized species of tapir. It is found only in certain portions of the Andean Mountain Range in northwestern South A ...

cougar The cougar (''Puma concolor'') (, ''Help:Pronunciation respelling key, KOO-gər''), also called puma, mountain lion, catamount and panther is a large small cat native to the Americas. It inhabits North America, North, Central America, Cent ...

, pudú as well as the

Andean condor The Andean condor (''Vultur gryphus'') is a South American New World vulture and is the only member of the genus ''Vultur''. It is found in the Andes mountains and adjacent Pacific coasts of western South America. With a maximum wingspan of and ...

that the

San Diego Zoo The San Diego Zoo is a zoo in San Diego, California, United States, located in Balboa Park (San Diego), Balboa Park. It began with a collection of animals left over from the 1915 Panama–California Exposition that were brought together by its ...

helped to reintroduce in the 1990s. The lower elevation forests are home to four primates:

woolly monkey The woolly monkeys are the genus ''Lagothrix'' of New World monkeys, usually placed in the family Atelidae. Both species in this genus originate from the rainforests of South America. They have prehensile tails and live in relatively large soci ...

howler monkey Howler monkeys (genus ''Alouatta'', monotypic in subfamily Alouattinae) are the most widespread primate genus in the Neotropical realm, Neotropics and are among the largest of the New World monkey, platyrrhines along with the muriquis (''Brachyte ...

, gray-bellied night monkey, tufted capuchin.

Gallery

File:Putrace National Park (Columbia 1).jpg File:Purace national Parc (Columbia 2).jpg File:Purace National Parc (Columbia 3).jpg File:Purace National Parc (Columbia 4).jpg File:Purace National Parc (Columbia 5).jpg File:Purace National Parc (Columbia 6).jpg

Communities

The park's area serves as an indigenous reservation for the Coconuco ethnic group, in the Pilimbalá sector, where the same community offers comfortable lodging and typical food. There is also an indigenous Guambiano settlement.

Footnotes

References

* *

External links

The park's page at Parques Nacionales Naturales de Colombia

Observatorio Vulcanológico y Sismológico de Popayán
*
Information about Puracé in the Global Volcanism Program
' * {{DEFAULTSORT:Purace National Natural Park National parks of Colombia Protected areas established in 1961 Geography of Cauca Department 1961 establishments in Colombia Tourist attractions in Cauca Department Páramos Northwestern Andean montane forests